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Hello my loves! hows everybody head? I’ll try and keep it quiet 🙂 Here we are with a whole New Year, a slate wiped clean, 365 days of potential, 52 weeks to get all manner of things done……

or not.

We all know how easy it is to let life interfere with…well life, the one we want, the thinner, fitter, trendier, more successful life that we all dream of.

So Mrs know it all ( I hear you say) what can we do? I can only share one pearl of wisdom with you- plan, plan and plan again! get yourself a really lovely planner or notebook, there’s this one………

This pink Kikki K one is my hub for all things business related, I put my work schedule – what I am making on a week to week basis in there, I also jot down patterns and ideas and list materials, knowledge and tools that I need to get to make those ideas happen.

And this one………

This Daily Greatness journal is arguably the most powerful, its the one that makes you list things you are grateful for or the mindset that I want to channel for the day, it effortlessly lets you focus on being open to new things. It also allows you to set goals weekly, quarterly and for the year. Its expensive so I bought mine on Ebay!, here is

If you need any help with a positive mindset, why not channel this oldie but goldie from Nadiya Hussain from the Great British Bake Off…….

Does all this positive thinking and endless planning work? yes it does, but it’s not all pretty planners and positive thoughts. It’s sometimes about just keeping going, keep picking yourself up, keep trying to eat better, exercise more and make that business idea a reality. It’s perseverance and slog that gets the job done.

I shall be slogging away with you, even though last year was the most successful I have had, I shall be striving for more.

The materials I use will be upgraded……

There will definitely be more sparkle!

Every single item will be of my own design……

and each design will be refined, this bunny will be getting a backpack, big enough to hold some Easter chocolate!

I will start the process to ensure that all my makes can carry the child safety mark…..

This unicorn will be one of those both redesigned and tested for safety.

On a less serious note I will keep dreaming………

Because mostly every plan starts with a dream!

All that is left is to wish each and every one of you a 2018 full of love, health and happiness.

Kisses

Karen

Ps if you want to keep up to date on the daily goings on at While Darcey Sleeps HQ pop over to http://www.Facebook.com/whiledarceysleeps, there is also a handy shop now button that takes you through to my shop ( you can also commission a portrait through it!)

I hope you understand that the body of this blog was written before the events in London and it is humorous in tone, therefore I have inserted my thoughts on those events above it.

Here we are again, back in the middle of a senseless act of terrorism. This time on the streets of the city that I worked in for many years and still like to visit. I had to contact my husband who frequently works near by to seek reassurance that he and his colleagues were safe.

I have no words that will make any sense of the murder of both civilians and one brave police officer that literally stood in the path of a mad man.

What can we do? nothing except carry on and refuse to let those that are filled with hate change our minds on anything.

We must support our police officers and those of the ambulance and fire service who have to walk into scenes such as those.

We must continue to demonstrate that only love wins.

Morning my little pains au chocolat! it has been a bit of a week here at WDS towers, I have had two visits to the medical profession in the last two weeks and they were equally challenging! Visit one confirmed that the numbness that I have been experiencing is as a result of damage in my neck and has limited treatment options…….

Well good morning to you! I am afraid dear reader that things at While Darcey Sleeps towers are in disarray! I’ve been suffering with some numbness in my hands which I have just found out will only be partially treated by some physio.

I’m sure you can imagine that hasn’t put me in the best mindset for writing a cheery blog! However it has put me in the mood to look back at my achievements and the posts on this blog, this will be more than enough motivation to help me keep going. here are some of the important bits from the past year…….

We spent a lot of time in Chinatown, mostly eating and buying cute stuff.

I spent a lot of amazing time with the management board of my company.

We were often tempted by the lovely shops in London!

The management board conducted a lot of research into bluebells!

I painted……..a lot!

And sewed…..a lot!

I marvelled at the strength of the human spirit.

I protested (just a little bit).

I laughed and cried when Bob won.

and I stopped doing that!

But best of all I spent time with you guys and I am lifted every time I see how many of you visit my corner of cyber space.

So, Monday afternoon I have an emergency rheumatologist appointment after which I will be pulling my socks up, stiffening my lip and as Beyonce says “getting back to business”, and a proper blog post will be yours next week.

Morning petals! I was just packing away my Valentines card and it set me to thinking how lucky I was to have such a great gift from my husband. The gift wasn’t particularly expensive but it was chosen with careful thought and a whole treasure hunt set up to find it……………

I applied a magical filter to these photos because it felt so magical to me! As an Alice in Wonderland nut it couldn’t have been more perfect. The gift?……..

A bottle of love potion tea from the tea wizards at Bluebird tea in Brighton, this black tea tastes like a dark chocolate rose cream. Next to it a jar of Valentines fudge from Brighton too, full of strawberry it was delicious!

What did I do for this lovely man? Hmmm… I really thought I had nailed Valentines with this comic themed card…..

Pretty cool right? The gift was not so inspired, a comic that he had chosen himself. This is where we get to the point of this weeks post, what does love look like the other 364 days of the year? What do we do for each other that still says I love you and I care? That lovely husband bought these home on Saturday when I was being tortured by arthritis……….

And this morning before 8, I made sushi and packed this bento box…..

Because when it come to love the devil really is in the details, its not found in the grand gestures or the expensive gifts, it is the small considerations often when you least feel like it, that show you care.

I expect you have heard this at weddings “love is patient, love is kind etc,etc ” well actually a lot of the time love is shouty, love is moody and other things unrepeatable here. It is at those moments where we need to dig deep and demonstrate our love.

So in the words of a lot of chat show hosts – be kind to one another, and next week I am hoping to have a great DIY for you.

Morning cupcakes! do you remember Friends? I loved the way their episodes were titled “the one with”, well if this week was an episode of Friends this would be the one with the disco budgies! let me explain….

Ive just joined a support group for people with Hypermobility syndrome, through this I’ve met a lovely girl called Lucy and long story short I am doing a picture of her birds as practice for me. I sorted out my palette of Inktense pencils (the ones I use for all my pictures) and this happened………..

Neon yellow discotastic budgies! aaarrrgggghhh! there was nothing else to do but start again, but by this time I had “used up” my painting arms and needed to do something else, so instead of continuing with my House Of Cards marathon I thought about what I ﻿could do instead that would still benefit my business.

First up, the felt box, look what a state its in post Christmas rush……..

Oh the horror! so I took at patterns and put them in a file, piled up the felt neatly and took out the cottons, ribbons and buttons and stashed them away.

This had got me in a grown up, sort stuff out sort of mood, so then I planned out the next three months work in detail on my Mayi Carles Planners…..

All this effort made me think of my friend Nik’s New years resolution, she said that she was just going to do the same stuff but maybe a little better. Thats exactly what I’m going to do, just give each day that extra 5 or 10% and keep my business at the front of my mind the whole time.

Happy New Year, Bonne Annee, Buon Ano Nuevo, Frohes Neues Jahr, and last but not least Anni Beatum! can you tell which way I voted in June? anyway I’m a bit early, the New Year will start tomorrow and this girl is excited.

Why? because 2016 was kind of pants for the most part, various family members have been ill as I have I, more times than I care to mention! Also for me personally the big decisions that were made went the wrong way, what had seemed inconcievable – a UK no longer in Europe and that man as President became a reality, lets hope that the people at the sharp end can make all that work. Lets not even list the massively talented, clever and influential people that passed this year…

In the midst of all this craziness, good things happened, all the family members are better or well on their way and lots of good things happened to While Darcey Sleeps, and I made some changes……….

I got my piercing!!!

I have also taken time out over the holidays to do some personal projects, for the first time I have successfully knitted some lace…….

And a very easy hat…….

And now I’m knitting a flamingo…….

Professionally there will be some changes in the New Year, I will still be making cute but in an effort to differentiate from all the other talented people there will be more of a luxe edge, more sparkle, more glitter and maybe less traditional subject matter!

There will be lots of painting, and lots of practicing, my business took off very quickly and didn’t leave a lot of time to try new things, so that will be a priority.

There will be a few more giveaways so keep your eyes peeled, the first one is SOON!!

All that is left is to wish you the very happiest of New years and thanks for being a visitor to While Darcey Sleeps!

Morning lovelies! Are you all puzzling that headline? I’m sure like me you see more than your fair share of motivational quotes during your day. This week I saw one that literally stopped me in my tracks……….

After two years of writing this blog and launching my little business, I knew right then and there that I was standing in my way! Let me tell you what I am doing that is STOPPING me being more successful.

1. I am absolutely useless at promoting my business! I belong to loads of Facebook groups that allow businesses to advertise and I do it maybe 4 times a year, it feels a little like this to me……

But would I feel the same if I was a plumber or a dog walker? No, so it’s time to stop thinking of my business as different and start advertising regularly.

And while we are on the subject of look at me…

2. Networking! I am awful at this! I don’t read other people’s blogs as much as I should and that’s a shame as there are fabulous writers out there that I should be building relationships with, and I belong to several groups specifically set up to make networking easier, so if I follow your blog expect a visit soon……

3. Social media! After spending literally hours studying effective blog and brand promotion on a course run by the super talented April Bowles Olin of Blacksburg Belle, I am a sporadic user at best. I need to pin more and analyse the successful ones like this one……..

I also need to look at that persons boards to see what else they like, and use this information to inspire designs.

I need to Instagram more of my life and it’s ups and downs so that you get to know me better…..

4. Use time more effectively! That hour in the morning where I sit around waiting to deliver the husband to the station could be used to do some of the above!

5. Get it done! move some of the ideas I have had this year into actual action, remember this?………

It’s time to take that pretty piece of design and make it a reality.

6. Practice what I preach! Remember this from last year……

It’s time to take that great advice and not put limitations on myself or my business!

So it’s onward and upward and time to spruce up the unicorn and see how much further she can fly ( if you are new here check back on my first ever post for an explanation) .

Good Morning kitty cats! I’m sure if you have ever been on any social media, you will have seen many inspirational quotes about making your dreams a reality. You know the sort of stuff “dream it, do it” “dream big” etc, etc. But how to turn those wishes in reality? The book “The Secret” was a big proponent of putting out positive thoughts to the universe and then the universe would send it back to you, hmmm, I’m not entirely sure.

I am persuaded by the concept of the wish board, where you pin pictures, quotes or anything that relates to your wishes, I think by doing so you make those wishes more real and then you inevitably take steps to achieve them ( no magic required). Here’s mine…….

So let’s start at the bottom with the rainbow semi circle and go roughly anti clockwise! ….

Wish 1: meditate more, this is a screen shot from the Buddhify app and I need to get back in the habit! It helps me focus and therefore achieve more.

Wish 10: Helen Mirren! No I don’t want to be her, but I would like to grow old in a glamorous way, however more importantly I want to grow old, if you have had cancer you lose your faith in immortality, so I need to get that faith back by taking the very best care of myself.

Writing this post has really focuses my mind and made me realise how much of what I want hinges on me taking care of myself! To that end I undertake to check in on this boards progress in the blog post on 31.12 who knows how far I will get?

Morning (cough) dear (cough) reader (cough)! I have the worst chest infection in the world….ever, if you have had a bad chest infection this is it’s daddy! I was going to do a post on the comic con last week but thats going to have to wait as I haven’t edited the pics!

Anyhow shall we press on? I am sure by now that you have realised I LURVE what I do! In fact I love it so much that it still doesn’t feel quite real, so in an effort to be more grown up and grounded in my profession I’ve got a workspace! Who wants to see? Of course you do, but that would be one heck of a short post so here’s your tour……

I have a lot of Harley Quinn and super hero stuff, I’m gradually been brought to the dark side by my husband.

And there’s ……

Lots of Alice stuff, the whole room will be all Alice eventually, this card is a promo for a musical and I like the slightly sinister feel of this rabbit, and will be using this for inspiration.

To try and ground me and help me focus ……..

The Rose Quartz and amethyst is meant to clear my energies, I don’t know if it works but they are so pretty.

For when I feel scared or lacking confidence…….

This quote from the Divergent books and film makes me feel kick ass!

There is combined cakes and Batgirl……..

Those felt macarons enable me to use the beautiful dish my mother in law gave me.

There is this inherited from my darling daughter………

I think I might start taking a few instant pictures when I’m out and about hunting for inspiration.

Finally, there are these………

Because this is my business and here are the cards to prove it!

And Finally!

There it is in all its glory, including a mannequin for when I can’t remember which way the elbow bends! And a twiggy tree full of bluebirds, my folder of to do lists. When I go to back to work on Monday this little slice of heaven will be my blogging space ( I didn’t put the laptop in, it’s Apple but it still ain’t pretty) and two years in I will say with confidence I am a blogger and an artist and this is where I work.

﻿Uggghhh! No sooner had flow arrived..it went! Shoulder arthritis, multiple sprains and a migraine packed it’s bags for it. I have managed to draw out a new type of portrait…….

Eventually it will be Darcey with a floral crown, I also have fairy puppies floating round my head. However one pencil drawing does not a blog post make, so I was thinking about all the pictures I take and delete, and what makes me keep some of them for so long, here is my top 10 that didn’t get deleted.

Number 1…..

The combined loveliness of my Darcey and my husband Neil.

Number 2……

Me at the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Victoria and Albert museum, so good I saw it twice and cried twice at the loss of a genius.

Number 3….

The picture that made me buy a hysterical, self opinionated and completely precious toy poodle called Milo.

Number 4…

My first piece of business post, I was disproportionately excited.

Number 5…..

Your colours for AW 2016, for those old enough to remember do they remind you of the seventies?

Number 6…..

Because however hard I try, I just can’t seem to grow up!

Number 7…….

I took this picture to illustrate this years colour of the year but I’ve kept it because it is the most perfect colour.

Number 8…..

To me these are actual Angels, these are people that with the help of a local theatre group screened the families of the victims of the Orlando shooting from the evil that is the Westboro baptist church, who picket the funerals of LGBT people ( amongst others) this is humanity at it absolute best.

Number 9……..

Bluebell s- I admit I am obsessed but they sum up British woodland in a picture.

Number 10……

I usually ignore the endless motivational memes that pop up on Facebook but I love this one and I try to be supernova like as often as possible.

So have you got a photo on your phone or tablet that you will never delete? I’d love to see it!